August2006
Every Day
Science
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Facts and
TUESDAY
1
3
Birthday of
Maria Mitchell
(1818–1889), the
first professional
woman
astronomer in the
United States.
➤
8
7
6
Explorer 6 was
launched on this
day in 1959.
The satellite
collected data on the
Van Allen radiation
belts.
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
2
challenges for the science explorer
She discovered
Comet Mitchell
1847VI in
1847.
9
10
The Van Allen belts
are two doughnutshaped areas
of electrically
charged gas that
circle the Earth.
FRIDAY
4
SATURDAY
5
A crater on the
moon is also
named for her.
11
12
Particles from the
Van Allen belts
cause auroras
when they collide
with air and emit
light.
They are caused
by the interaction
between the Earth’s
magnetic field and
the solar wind.
➤
13
14
Images of Earth were
first seen on television
in 1959, sent by
Explorer 6.
21
20
Ronald Ross
discovered the link
between malaria and
mosquitoes in 1897.
27
76
A huge swarm of
locusts descended
on Nebraska on
this day on 1874.
22
Because he had
lived in India, Ross
was interested in
this disease.
28
This day marks the
beginning of the U.S.
oil industry.
15
In 1859, Edwin
Drake struck
oil in Titusville,
Pennsylvania.
Science and Children
16
The estimated 12.5
trillion locusts
was the largest
concentration
of animals ever
recorded.
23
He examined
mosquitoes to
discover how the
malaria parasite is
spread.
29
Native Americans
and European
settlers had come
across oil in this
area for many
years.
17
30
People hoped
to use the oil as
lamp fuel.
18
19
The USDA releases a
grasshopper hazard
map every year.
The Rocky Mountain
locusts caused
millions of dollars
in crop damage.
24
The discovery
was made by
examining the
life cycle of the
mosquito.
31
What do we use
oil for now?
25
26
A mosquito is a
v _ c _ o _ because
it transmits disease.
Read more about
mosquitoes at www.
enchantedlearning.
com/subjects/insects/
mosquito.
For more
resources, click
on the calendar at
www.nsta.org/
elementaryschool
#journal.